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Colangelo Looking To Hire An Established GM?

The Raptors are in the market for a new executive.

The only catch, and it’s a doozy, is that experience is required — serious experience. While Bryan Colangelo, the Toronto president and general manager, said the title and role of his new hire is yet to be determined, he acknowledged the ongoing reorganization of his front office could even involve bestowing his GM title on someone else.

“I’m thinking about bringing in a high-level basketball person to strengthen our management team,” Colangelo said. “If I brought someone in and a GM title was part of it, it would be a fairly high-calibre person, probably someone with GM credentials already to their name. It’s all in development right now ... I could bring in one, I could bring in several new people.”

Colangelo was speaking on Thursday after CBSSports.com reported that the Raptors were seeking a replacement for Maurizio Gherardini, the vice president of basketball operations whose contract expires June 30. Colangelo disputed the report, saying that while he has yet to address Gherardini’s future — “I’d like to have (Gherardini) back,” he said — the search for new blood isn’t a push to fill a soon-to-be-empty office.

The idea is to bolster an executive team that remains a man short since the August departure of assistant general manager Masai Ujiri, who left to become GM of the Denver Nuggets. Ujiri, who has since impressed with his deft unloading of Carmelo Anthony, was seen by club insiders as a skilled talent evaluator whose contributions are missed.